2 questions nobody has asked about HDS lights

turbodog

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A short while ago, I occurred to me that there are 2 things that have not been asked about HDS lights.

1. exploded view: nobody wants to tear one apart simply to see what's in it?

2. light output: according to HDS, they hold output steady and allow runtime to vary. How is this accomplished during the manufacturing process? I have 2 theories:

a. the circuit regulates current, but allows it to vary in that the total watts consumed by the led remain constant from unit to unit. This would be a constant current regulator tuned to the specific Vf of the emitter. The problem I see with this is that luminous flux varies from led to led. You could have 2 lights with the same watt usage, but with vastly different light output.

b. each light is actually "tuned" with the help of a light meter. This seems to reflect the accuracy that we have become accustomed to from HDS, but it seems tedious, slow, and too expensive.
 

lamperich

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i agree with your theories.

That is the biggest problem LED Flashlights have.
every flashlight especially the LED and i think also every electronic is unqiue....a lot guys on CPF knows this(some work in the electronic buisness) that´s why they don´t hesitate paying up to 300$ for a handmade flashlight.

For the future i hope there will be at least better constant current Regulation for mass-market company like nuwai dorcy Elektronumen etc. out there. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif
 

goldenlight

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Yes, that type of current regulation IS slow, tedious, and expensive.

That's one reason HDS EDC's ARE expensive.

I love my U42; best bang for the buck of ANY flashlight I've ever owned, seen, or read a review on.

Period.
 

HDS_Systems

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TurboDog,

The more correct theory would be 2B - as we talk about on the Frequently Asked Questions page under the heading of Why are the lights calibrated. It does take a light meter but the hardware and software do all the work so the process is fairly quick, simple and inexpensive. The process has also generated a wealth of statical data that helps us to plan production and estimate yields - and puts to rest many misconceptions about LEDs.

As far as exploded view diagrams, we have them for our own internal use, but have not published them for public consumption. When we have finished a few of the up coming changes, it will become fairly easy for people to generate exploded views. And at that time we may even publish them.

Lamperich,

The calibration process takes care of all the differences in the electronics, which can be quite significant.

Goldenlight,

We use constant power regulation instead of constant current regulation because it produces better results overall. That includes better light output compensation.

Henry.
 

goldenlight

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[ QUOTE ]
HDS_Systems said:

Goldenlight,

We use constant power regulation instead of constant current regulation because it produces better results overall. That includes better light output compensation.

Henry.

[/ QUOTE ]

It does work exceedingly well, IMHO! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

turbodog

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[ QUOTE ]
HDS_Systems said:
TurboDog,

The more correct theory would be 2B - as we talk about on the Frequently Asked Questions page under the heading of Why are the lights calibrated. It does take a light meter but the hardware and software do all the work so the process is fairly quick, simple and inexpensive. The process has also generated a wealth of statical data that helps us to plan production and estimate yields - and puts to rest many misconceptions about LEDs.

As far as exploded view diagrams, we have them for our own internal use, but have not published them for public consumption. When we have finished a few of the up coming changes, it will become fairly easy for people to generate exploded views. And at that time we may even publish them.

Lamperich,

The calibration process takes care of all the differences in the electronics, which can be quite significant.

Goldenlight,

We use constant power regulation instead of constant current regulation because it produces better results overall. That includes better light output compensation.

Henry.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ahem!

Post time of 2:10 a.m.

Don't you sleep?
 

Sengoku

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But ARE all HDS EDC calibrated for the same brightness..


Left: Ultimate60 Right: Basic60 both on level1 on R123 @4.2v
u60vb604ch.jpg

Sorry my sons room(only white wall in the house)

Left: Ultimate60 on r123 @ 4.2v Right: UX1K @1200mA with SO20XA reflector



the basic60 is atleast double the brightness of the Ultimate60! The basic 60 has about the same brightness as an U bin running at 1200mA and with a bigger, more narrow reflector. About 90-100 lumens! i still dont know why. maybe i got one of the 100lumens HDS?
 

JohnF

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After speaking with Henry recently, I have no doubt that ALL 60's (B or U) will output 60 lum minimum. I also have no doubt that a select few will far exceed 60 lumens - so I'd say, yes, you did get a '100 lumen' Basic - it just doesn't say so on the light...

I was not quite so lucky - my Basic 60 GT and Ultimate 60 XR seem nearly identical in overall output, but they vary quite a bit in hotspot size - the Basic is much more tightly focused for some reason, but I'm sure it falls in line with light-to-light variations...

John F

John F
 

Sengoku

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John F: thanks for the useful info. The tint isnt bad either, very slight pink, i suspect i have a UWAH(if there is such thing. The serial is 524, quite low, i think it was made before there was the XR and XRGT, so i must have got lucky and didnt need to pay the premium! Runtime on a R123 700mA is about 33mins.

Yes there is luxeon lottery in HDS EDCs aswell.
 

Ty_Bower

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This is all just guessing, but...

Looking at TIN's graphs, it appears the HDS lights may run a little brighter on level one when using rechargeable cells. I thought it weird when I first noticed, but didn't think much further than that.

Perhaps the HDS lights on level one are running "wide open throttle". The slightly higher voltage you get from rechargeable cells (vs. primaries) makes for brighter output. If that's the case, then level one isn't really "brightness calibrated". At best, it's "brightness guaranteed" to be at least 60 lumens.

Note that my theory only applies to level one, and only for the -60 models. I suspect the -42 models really start out at level two, and level one is disabled in the firmware. You can also see in TIN's graphs that after the HDS light falls out of level one for whatever reason (user selected, thermal overload, or cell depletion) the remaining levels do appear to be accurately calibrated and equal in output among individual lights.

Then again, maybe I'm all wrong? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif
 

Sengoku

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Ty Bower: i can confirm that the brightness difference is still the same running on primary cells(CR123)
Also at level 10 the B60 is also brighter.
 

cy

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could be wrong, but highly unlikely a Ubin is going to put 100 lumens out the front end.

Ubins are rated 87 to 113 lumens. so let's be optomistic and use 113 lumens. then subtract at least 40-45% loss for tranmission and heat die loss. that would give aprox. 67 lumens out the front end.

reason I'm using Ubin is that overachieving Tbins will put out Ubin range.

So it's reasonable to speculate that if using overachieving Tbins in HDS 60's. 60 lumens could be achieved, but 100 lumens would be a stretch. IMHO it would require Wbins to get there.
 
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